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Newsom (left) and Sliger show off their custom creations for a Sadie Hawkins-themed dance at the 2019 Fusebox Festival in Austin.
It started as a costume design project for an amateur water ski team. Marianne Newsom, a fashion-focused fringe enthusiast, and Sunny Sliger, a sculptor and former Dallas Cowboys cheerleader, met through the Dallas art scene and bonded over similar interests. “One night,” Newsom says, “[Sliger] called me up. I brought my sewing machine over, and, 15 years later, we’re still working together.” Their first collaboration was creating costumes for the Metroplex Mavericks Show Ski Team.
But the two didn’t just design the costumes. They joined the team.
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No scraps are tossed when the pair craft their creations.
For six years, they both designed for and performed with the Metroplex Mavericks, constantly trying to find the perfect wind- and water-resistant materials. A couple of years in, their curiosity began to grow, as they wondered what else they could create.
Sliger and Newsom began by designing installations for group shows, until one day they caught their big break. The duo was invited to create a piece for the Nasher Sculpture Center, in 2012, for the opening of Klyde Warren Park. This, along with the birth of social media, helped their work gain traction nationwide. It wasn’t long before a rental company in New York messaged them on Instagram. “They contacted us to create a body of work that they [could use for events] in New York,” Newsom says. “And that was kind of, Oh, this is how this could be turned into a more sustainable way of making money.”
In 2010, the two joined forces to form The Color Condition, a business that creates large, colorful art installations from streamers, tablecloths, shower curtains, drop cloths, and other repurposed materials. Sliger and Newsom are deeply committed to minimizing waste. No scraps get tossed, and every color finds its place. “Sustainability is definitely on trend, but we were already doing it,” Newsom says. “It’s just the way one should live.”
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Courtesy Color Condition
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Courtesy Color Condition
In 2013, The Color Condition was invited by the Nasher to participate in The Great Create. This annual family fundraiser transforms the museum’s garden into an interactive space for kids and adults alike, with hands-on art projects led by local artists, live entertainment, and plenty of kid-friendly fun. They’ve returned almost every year since and will be back to present this year’s creation on October 26. “The Nasher is a really big part of our beginning story as well, you know—them bringing us in and supporting us as artists in Dallas,” Newsom says.
In the future, Newsom and Sliger hope to pursue more large-scale projects in public spaces, similar to previous installations they have done at Galleria Dallas, the Dallas Contemporary, and Centennial Park. “A lot of what we do is in the event area, so it’s up and down real quick,” Sliger says. “But we really like doing projects that get to live in a place for a couple months.”
As for what’s next? Sliger laughs. “We want to do another bridge. And a train.”
This story originally appeared in the August issue of D Magazine with the headline “Fringe Benefits.” Write to feedback@dmagazine.com.